Things that should actually be banned in India

Things that should actually be banned in India:

India is a democratic nation (oh yes!) where one has the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression, Right to Information, and so on and so forth. It is a country which ‘secures its citizens’ with ‘justice, liberty, equality and fraternity’. Protecting the rights of citizens by implementing certain laws and regulations is one thing and imposing restrictions and bans on practically every other thing is a different ball game altogether.

The recent ban list of India includes the AIB Roast video, use of cuss words on screen, beef in Maharashtra, BBC documentary on Nirbhaya rape case and the screening of Fifty Shades of Grey in Indian cinemas, to name a few. But we bring to you a list of things which actually deserve to be banned in India:

1.       Sleazy item numbers – Girls stepping out of homes in jeans or noodle strap tops is unacceptable but a woman wearing skimpy clothes, trying to seduce and please men on screen is perfectly okay. Add to that the dirty lyrics in songs (read: Yo Yo Honey Singh) which are meant to demean women. What on earth are we doing?

2.       Beauty pageants – You don’t become a beauty queen by shaping yourself to a certain body type. You are beautiful because of your personality and who you are.

3.       Fake moral police – What do they do when a guy and girl say ‘I Love You’ to each other? Answer – Marry them off! Throw tear gas at people who protest for causes like ‘Kiss of Love’. These are people who set high standards for stupidity in this country.

4.       Littering and peeing in public places – Throwing trash cans and garbage on roads and spoiling the beauty of a place should be totally unacceptable. Countries like Singapore impose fines for anyone throwing a chewing gum on road. But as they say, ‘India is a country where it is okay to piss in public but not kiss in public.’ Talk about double standards!

5.       Cigarettes – Companies who manufacture these also mention a statutory warning on the packet regarding the health consequences of the same. Why not stop manufacturing and prevent people from getting addicted to it altogether?

6.       Stereotyping – It’s funny how people judge someone based on their looks, accent and behavior, without even knowing more about them. Oh you are from Delhi, you must be a rapist! You look weird, are you gay? Who the hell are you people – aliens?

7.       Criminals – Our country is run by people who have had a stint in criminal activities at some point or the other in their lives. Yet, punishment is bestowed on those who are innocent – people who refuse to offer bribes, try to resist rapes, etc.

8.      Women injustice – Female foeticide, child marriage, domestic violence and marital rapes are more important issues that need to be banned immediately. The way rape victims are subject to torture by ‘interrogating policemen’ is more severe than the actual rape itself. India cannot become a progressive country if these matters are not solved at the earliest.

9.       Religious wars – Converting people from different religions to Hinduism (Ghar-wapasi) does not prove superiority of a religion or a group of people. Every person should be allowed to practice the religion of their choice, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Islam.

10.     Social stigmas – Sexual orientations, single motherhood, illegitimate children, sex workers, live-in relationships, virginity of a girl, etc. are ‘stigmas’ that need to be banned in India. It is high time India became more receptive to the choices an individual makes.

Funny how trivial things are banned in the country and issues which are graver and demand higher level of attention remain unaddressed!

-Orca Studio

www.orcastudio.co

 

Advertising from the eyes of Orca Studio

Advertising can formally be defined as the action of non-personal and paid form of communication delivered through selective channels of media from a marketer to a particular group of people. It is essentially the efforts undertaken by a marketer to inform or persuade a target audience about an organization, individual, product or ideas. Simply put, a lot of the products, services or ideas in the world would go unnoticed if it were not for advertising. It makes people aware about the existence of a marketer’s offerings and creates the desire to consume them.

Advertising is not limited to what we see on television, print, internet or outdoor hoardings. The traces of advertising date back to as early as the time when vendors would call out to people to buy their goods and services, as for instance, a vegetable seller, a cobbler, etc. Even the announcement of a new movie being screened in the local cinema of a village is regarded as an advertising, as it is an action of persuading people to buy tickets for watching the movie.

A large number of people can be reached out to through a single message because of advertising, thus making it a cheaper form of mass promotion. However, lot of careful planning is required to define the target audience, develop the right message, place it in the right medium and finally communicate it to them else the message can go unheard or overlooked. This is where the role of targeted advertising is being considered in modern times, when an advertiser is identifying only those individuals or groups of people with whom he wants to communicate his message.

Gone are the days when advertising was just a one-way communication, with the message being transferred from the marketer to the audience through a medium like television, radio, print, cinema or even Internet. It has evolved into a two-way communication process where a customer can immediately respond to a marketer’s advertising. On the digital front, the presence of paid ads or click-through ads has made it possible to gauge consumer interest in a particular product or service.

Like most things on the planet, advertising too has its negatives. It has the ability to misguide people regarding the benefits they can derive from the consumption of a product. Not only this, it can also create a superficial, materialistic desire in the minds of the people regarding the possession of specific goods. Advertising also has a strong impression in the minds of the youth, especially in advertisements where bold and daring acts have been performed.

Many critiques of advertising claim that it is a waste of national resources, but one cannot completely overrule the fact that advertising can have more positive effects if treated sensibly.
                                                                                             
-Orca Studio

www.orcastudio.co